bananas

I think you drastically over-rate our midfield. Those groups of 'senior' insides and outsides might one day deserve 8 out of 10, but they're not even close yet.

I'm dead against the notion of extra time. Our game is tough ... and it's never tougher than it was at 5.30 on Saturday, for the players or the fans. Our game is utterly uncompromising ... and extra time is a compromise. Keep the replay! The only other sport I can think of that has anything remotely similar is, oddly enough, golf: some championships have an immediate tie-breaker, but others have the tied players come back the next day and do a full 18 holes. And when Rocco Mediate matched Tiger Woods for the entire 18 hole playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open, it was epic in a way that no 1 or 2 or 3 hole playoff could ever be. (Tiger eventually got him on the 19th hole on the Monday.) Can anybody think of other examples of 'replays' in other sports? I don't think there's many ...

Hmmm. I think I rate Jonesy higher than a lot of people on this forum. I'd keep him. He's 22 for God's sake! People who say he has no upside are surely kidding themselves, or kidding the rest of us. Anyway, attempting to use reason: In any given game of footy, you need 12 midfielders (or players capable of playing midfield) in the 22. Maybe even more than that, depending on who you've got on the flanks and in the back pockets. To cover injury throughout the season, you'd probably want to have at least 16 and up to 20+ midfielders who are easily AFL-standard. Best and fairest be damned, at the moment I'd put Jonesy behind Davey, Sylvia, Green (who won't be playing midfield much anymore) and Scully, and I'd put him pretty much on par with Moloney, McKenzie and Trengove. Before you blow up at me, who of this batch is currently a better midfielder than Jonesy: Bail, Bennell, Blease, Bruce, Grimes, Gysberts, Jetta, Maric, Morton, Strauss, Tapscott, Wonaeamirri? Everyone else on the list is a definite forward or a definite defender, so I haven't included them. Before Jones will be squeezed out of the team, about six of these guys will have to get moved into the midfield (eg. Grimes, Wonna, Bruce - I'd say only Grimes is a realistic possibility) or simply improve past him (the young guys). While we'd all love that to be the case, we can't know for sure it's gonna happen until it happens. And as I said before, Jonesy's still a young guy himself, with the possibility of improving his game too. To be talking of getting rid of him is premature. Obviously if a trade came up for him that the FD felt improved our list, then go for it and good luck. But the same could be said of every player on the list. If the Tigers offered us Riewoldt, I'd give away (nearly) anybody. It's all relative. Personally I love the idea of turning Jonesy into our Cameron Ling. I think with a bit of time and development he could make that position his own, and still hurt the opposition a fair bit when we've got the ball as well. --- edited for clarity

It takes years for the rough-as-guts, shoulder-to-the-wheel type midfielders to get their due recognition. Jordie will be our version of Boyd from the Doggies or (looking further back) Ratten at the Blues ... he'll have to do it consistently for about three years for the footy world to catch up. It's just a side-effect of the type of game he plays. Luckily, everything we've heard about him makes it seem like he's not the kind of guy who gives a damn about all that extra-curricular carp.

Not a fan, I'm afraid. I just don't think it looks good, which is really the only thing to judge this kind of emblem on. They're on the right track, and (most of) the ideas are good, I just don't think the visual representation is that well done. For starters, I'd have ditched the computer-program-looking shading on it, or at least toned it way down. There's an odd mix of old-school (the design) and contemporary (the colouring) that makes it look weird to me. I think these sorts of designs work better with solid blocks of colour.

He can chase and catch Lewis Jetta, and he can go body-on-body with Jonathan Brown. That versatility makes him invaluable. All-Australian? If they've been paying attention, he'll easily make the initial 40-man squad and from there it's a crap-shoot. Hope he gets it though ...

Sylvia stepped up in the absence of Moloney, Junior et al and was simply amazing around the stoppages. He had a bit of the Judds around him, the way he'd gather the ball in a pack and then just accelerate away with it. I'd pencilled him in as a half-forward flank, but if he can maintain his fitness he's looking like he's finally figured out how to play (and dominate) in the midfield. More of the same please, Col! Frawley began on Jetta (that chase was awesome!) and moved at different stages onto White and Pike when he rested up forward. That says it all really, his versatility is gonna make him one of the most valuable defenders in the league, if he ain't already. I could keep going and write a paragraph on every player that was out there yesterday, but I'll restrict it to those two and simply agree with the OP ... that was the best footy we've played in years, by a fair margin. GO DEES!!!

That is absolutely unreal. Our club's resurgence is a helluva lot more than empty words, we're coming for sure! (credit where it's due, good job Richmond fans as well)

If Woneaemirri can get himself fully fit, he can be that crumbing forward. Because it was a couple of years ago it's easy to forget, but he's done something that nobody else in the entire squad has ever done: won us a game off his own boot. (no idea if I'm spelling it right, sorry Aussie if I'm not)

I was not convinced about Dunn at the beginning of the year and thought he needed to improve to avoid a delisting, but he's found a niche (defensively-minded forward) and is filling it with aplomb. Continue to get better, Lynden, and I'll admit that I was wrong ... but you're not quite there yet.

Yep, giggling to myself through the second half as the bombers fans bitched and moaned and asked for 50s that weren't there The woman down the row from me turned to me and said 'Even you must admit that none of those were there' ... to which I just said 'That's the way they've been interpreting it all year, your guys should know better.' She didn't say much to me after that! GO DEES!

... was absolutely woeful, and shouldn't pass without comment. Yes, the Demons got the best of it. Yes, according to the interpretation we've been going with this year, I reckon most of those fifties were there. But here's the thing: THE INTERPRETATION IS STUPID!!! Football's a tough game. Football players are some of the toughest athletes going around. I've lived my whole life watching a sport where the price you pay for taking a mark is that you have to eat dirt (provided the guy behind you isn't too far away), and I've loved it. The last, the absolute bloody last thing anyone wants is for our game to go the way of soccer. Where it's smarter play to act more hurt than you are, not the other way around. Where it's smarter play to go to ground more easily, not the other way around. And Vlad, Giesch, that's where you're taking it. End rant.

Maric - 4th in line (behind Bennell, Jetta and Woneaemirri) for a crumbing forward gig, and has never shown any inclination to push himself higher. McNamara - Tough on him, wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. How much defensive depth do we need? PJ - Will never be an AFL quality player (in my opinion). Has no idea how to make the most of his physical attributes. I'd rather the short-term pain of getting games into Spencer, who has far more upside. Bell - Obviously gone. Bartram - Won't be cut. He's playing, and playing pretty darn well I reckon. Needs to give us more going forward, but I can't fault his defensive capabilities at all. Miller - Sigh. Who knows how the footy department view him? I think the lack of young forwards coming through has kept him in the team for the last couple of years, but now that Dunn has gone past him he'll be getting games very rarely. Time to make the tough decision and cut him, I think. Junior - his form early in the year was sensational, but he tapered off in the weeks leading up to his injury, and is now struggling to get back on the park. Will bow out or be tapped on the shoulder, I reckon. Better to leave on top, rather than hit round 8 next year and realise he's gone too long. One of my favourites, and it'll break my heart when it happens.

6 - Brad Green 5 - Mark Jamar 4 - Brent Moloney 3 - James Frawley 2 - Jack Trengove 1 - Colin Garland

Bartram - excellent stopping game Bate - worked to present Bennell - didn't do enough Bruce - wonderful all day Cheney - seemed overawed today Davey - some occasional brilliance Dunn - fantastic first half Frawley - biggest mancrush ever Garland - '08 form returning Green - a vintage performance Jamar - hello Bluey medal Johnson - fumbled and stumbled Jones - stuck at task Jurrah - needed the run MacDonald - provided important aggression Moloney - important centre breaks Rivers - reliable and safe Scully - important linking game Sylvia - an important return Trengove - second biggest mancrush Watts - slowly getting comfortable McKenzie - tough in clinches

Brilliant news. As well as stiffing Gold Coast (who I suspect I'll soon hate as much as Carlton, Hawthorn, Essendon and Collingwood), we've kept 3 important players. The debate about Rivers being in the 'best 22' or not misses an important point: the 23rd best player on any given team will probably play every week, given that injuries and suspensions make the team a constantly evolving beast. Depth is extremely important. We all know Col will be a mainstay of defence for years to come. And Ricky, one of my favourite players for the way he goes about it ... Frankly, I'd given him up as lost. I'm absolutely rapt to be wrong! I reckon he's gonna be very very important for us over the next few years (and hopefully more than a few!). Consider how the forward line has disintegrated since he got injured. All around, a great day to wake up a Dees supporter. Great job, list management team!

Scully - Simon Black, combined with Robert Harvey's endurance Trengove - he plays like Voss, hope he becomes that massive a unit That's 2 out of the fab 3 ... but I reckon we could live without an Akermanis! ... and here's a wishlist for some of the others: Watts - Riewoldt, but less of a sook Blease - Peter Matera Gysberts - James Hird Tapscott - Paul Chapman McKenzie - Brett Kirk Grimes - Andrew McLeod Frawley - Steve Silvagni Jurrah - Liam Jurrah Dean Bailey - Norm Smith

I could be wrong, but my understanding was that both Hunt and Folau's contracts would be outside the salary cap as some sort of special dispensation to the new clubs. So they get to splash cash on these guys, and still have all of their (already enlarged) salary caps to use for poaching.

McGysbleasculgrimwattsgovescottaeamirri ... rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

Love Jetta's mongel ...

Dear God/Fate/The Universe/Whatever, If, over the course of my life, I've managed to put together any positive karma/psychic energy/cosmic flow/whatever, I'd like to transfer it all to Jimmy Stynes, please. The guy deserves a break! All the best, Bananas (Everybody's with you, Jimmy. Keep fighting.)

Jamar's second to Godzilla, sorry, Sandilands in the hit-outs at the moment. Only two weeks into the season, but that's the first time a Dees ruckman has been anywhere near the best in the league in that stat for a long long time. (Neither White nor Stynes were ever much chop at the bounces, their brilliance was all around-the-ground stuff)

Every year you look for young kids to come in and grab a best-22 spot by the scruff of the neck ... Jordie's done that, and I don't think he'll be dropped again. Ever again. He's Junior junior. I love him already.

I like how some people are calling for Bate to be dropped because he's clearly underdone, but are also calling for Garland to be named in the team. Either of these opinions could be argued separately, but they make no sense together --- because if Bate's underdone, Garland's gonna be waaaaay behind him in terms of fitness. out: Spencer - does absolutely nothing. for: Martin - does ever-so-slightly more. There have been occasions in the past when Martin has been involved in a passage of play in a positive way (even if it's just a handball), and I honestly can't say the same of Spencer. out: Dunn - more than ever, I'm convinced he'll never be an AFL-standard player for: Sylvia - please, please, please let him be available. If he's fit enough, I think Jetta would be pushing hard for selection. More than anything we need guys who are prepared to work hard off the ball, running to create options for the ball carrier, pushing into space. Apart from Scully and Trengove this was almost entirely lacking today, and it was also one of the things I saw a lot of from the Jett last year. Having said that, I have no idea where his fitness is at. I'd like to drop Miller, but who for? If the alternative is Newton, I'll stick with Brad. Strauss had a shocker, obviously, but he's gotta be better than he showed today and dropping him after one game could have a horrible effect on his confidence.

6 - Green 5 - McKenzie 4 - Scully 3 - McDonald © 2 - Rivers 1 - Grimes Seriously, there should be some kind of weighting to these votes from round to round. Today's sixth best on ground wouldn't equate to sixteenth best in any kind of half-decent effort. Ugh.